Feb. 24, 2006

Duquesne's men's swimming team set 13 of the 19 possible school records in finishing a University-best fifth at the 2006 Atlantic 10 Championship. The Dukes had five swimmers set a total of nine individual records while four of the five relay teams managed to set new DU standards. The Red and Blue also had three Atlantic 10 champions crowned.

Junior Ed Wicker led the pack with a part in seven of the new school-best times. He set the records in the 50 (20.73), 100 (44.73) and 200 (1:40.67) freestyle events while being crowned the Atlantic 10 champion in the 100. Wicker was also a member of all four record-setting relays, including the Atlantic 10 champion 200 free relay team which finished in 1:22.40.

Junior Scott Darwin chipped in with a total of four school marks led by his top time in the 100 backstroke, where he finished in 50.68. In addition he was named an Atlantic 10 champion in the 50 free, but did not eclipse Wicker's school-record time which was set in the 200 free relay. Darwin also shared records in 200 and 400 free relays as well as the 200 medley relay.

Freshman Chris Kobela made his mark in the records book with school records in all three distance events. He swam a 4:37.76 in the 500 free, a 9:45.28 in the 1,000 and a 16:06.53 in the 1,650.

Other school record setters were senior Hugo Erse who left his mark in the 200 butterfly with a 1:53.28 and junior Clayton Dean in the 400 IM with a 4:05.79 as well as the 800 free relay. Also assisting in new standards in the relays were senior John Holleran, sophomores Jason Reinhard and Ian Walsh and freshmen Michael Ley and Kelly McCarthy.

Day one highlights
The Dukes jumped to a solid sixth place start after day one with 60 points, despite not scoring in the diving event. The Red and Blue finished second in the 200 medley relay and placed sixth in the 800 free relay.

Day two highlights
The day opened with Kobela and Dean placing fourth and 12th respectively in the 500 free. The Dukes were not able to place anybody in the 200 IM finals, but followed that event with Darwin's first place showing and Ley's third place finish in the 50 free. The Dukes ended the day in fifth place after capturing the title in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:22.40.

Day three highlights
The intensity would pick up on day three with six events on tap for the men. The Dukes did not have any qualifiers in the 100 butterfly or 100 breaststroke, but still had a stellar day with two school record setting performances. Dean and Erse got things started in the 400 IM with Dean placing ninth in DU record time and Erse placing 16th. Wicker and McCarthy then added more points to the team total as Wicker placed second in the 200 free and McCarthy finished 14th. Three Dukes managed to score in the 100 back with Darwin setting a DU record in placing second, Reinhard took ninth and senior Doug Yeager captured 12th. Day three ended with the Dukes in sixth place as the Red and Blue finished seventh in the 400 medley relay.

Day four highlights
The final day of competition opened with Kobela's third place showing in the 1,650 and was followed by Darwin and Dean scoring points in the 200 back as Darwin placed third and Dean 11th. Wicker then collected his gold medal (and 20 team points) in the 100 free with Walsh placing 11th and scoring six for the Red and Blue. Erse went on to claim fourth place in the 200 butterfly in school record time before the 400 free relay team closed out the championship with a second place finish, just 0.20 behind overall champion St. Bonaventure.

The Dukes placed fifth with 359 team points for its best finish ever and look to continue on the improvement in 2007 as the squad loses just three swimmers to graduation.